Working with partners

The Refugee Council works with partners nationally and internationally to help improve the lives of refugees and asylum seekers or to co-deliver projects or services. Our partners include Refugee Week, ECRE and the Asylum Support Partnership.

Refugee Week

Refugee Week is a week of events that celebrate the contribution of Refugees to the UK. Their are 12 partner agencies involved in producing Refugee Week, with representatives from each partner organisation forming the UK steering and operations group which decides the theme for Refugee Week each year. The partner agencies also run events to raise awareness and promote Refugee Week.

Developing the institutional capacity of refugee-assisting non-governmental organisations in Europe.

ECRE draws on the energy, ideas and commitment of an active membership of refugee-assisting non-governmental organisations and a strong secretariat. It also strives to involve wider civil society, the political community and refugee communities in its work. It respects the cultural values of different parts of Europe.

It aims to ensure that its ideas and positions are of high quality, legally accurate and representative of a wide range of knowledge, experience and best practice throughout Europe.

Its working methods are guided by democratic values and the principle of seeking to mobilise the widest possible active involvement of its member agencies through working groups, advisory groups, regional fora and Europe-wide networks. It encourages, wherever appropriate, its member agencies to take the lead on a particular project.

Working Internationally

The Refugee Council help on a range of international issues, including:

Monitoring and influencing the development of European asylum policy

Providing input into the UN High Commissioner for Refugees' consultation and decision-making processes

Contingency planning for emergency programmes

Working with other partners and networks to establish country of origin information

We cover a broad spectrum of issues through our work and produce regular newsletters, briefings, reports and policy documents. Although we do not have offices outside the UK we maintain close working relationships with governmental and non-governmental organisations both in the UK and overseas.

Our current aims are to:

support the development of the UK's resettlement programme for refugees from overseas

ensure that refugees are able to access protection in the EU

raise awareness of the links between the different aspects of UK policy that impact on refugees' countries of origin and how they impact on flows of asylum seekers to the UK